the strawberry thief

if you look closely you will see our strawberry thief. she will strike at any time of day. she will eat the berries whether fully ripe or not (ewww!). she has two legs, blond hair. you get the picture!

although a bit bothered by her continuous eating of non-ripened berries, this IS what the strawberry patch is for: family eating! & eat she does. i think when a large amount of the berries ripen, she will be drunk on the s'berries.

there is a part of me that is very proud that adeline is digging around in a patch of home grown fruit & then biting it after doing a little spit-shine to get the dirt off (amazingly, i believe she thought of this herself! she loves to spit, really).******

change of scenery: inside.
time of day: late morning, post millie 1st nap.
occurance: amelia's first climb up the slide.
success rate: .5
status: knocked over by older sibling

this would be called the sister-train:

"see amelia, this is how you do it"

"oh, i get it!"

******

random pictures

the millie sleeping in the outdoor swing. poor kiddo. when will that tooth come through?

addy swinging with her favorite outfit on in 85 degree weather (with 89% humidity). even hot weather can't keep her out of her cat-halloween shirt!

addy watching kangaroos at the zoo.

she kept trying to climb into their area...we went thursday to the zoo with my sister in law, her mom, & my twin nieces, who are 2 years old & addy's best friends. i haven't seen addy so excited in quite awhile as when she laid eyes on the twins yesterday. she talked to them, held hands (not for long, but...), they tickled each other even a bit, addy shared their double wide stroller with one at a time. we were there for 5 1/2 hours, the longest we have ever stayed at the zoo & it was by far the easiest zoo trip we've had yet. not sure if it was b/c addy was so entertained by her cousins or if it was b/c we had a grandma there! or both? BUT, the question of the day: how did i only get a few pictures, mostly of animals? these twins had on the cutest dresses & the girls were being oogly-eyed in love with each other & i didn't manage to get a good picture of all of them together! DOI!

amelia also really enjoyed the twins, but for other reasons such as snatching their french fries. she has become quite the quick swiper of any thing, but food in particular. but the twins didn't seem to mind, at least they didn't respond like addy does ('mine!') maybe b/c they've had stuff swiped from each other before?

what else? well, today was a very frustrating day with huge ups & downs. i think we are reaching the pinnacle of addy's language barrier. by now she should have, what...200 words? maybe, i can't remember exactly. today i wrote down all the words she said & added a few others she didn't use that i know she can say & there is 21. to be proud, "cool!" is one of the words, *smile*... but i can tell that she is getting even more frustrated with herself & not being able to express herself through language. she has started this frustrated, high-pitched gibberish & then tears start to well up in her eyes & she throws her arms up in defeat. there have been many, many, many tantrums this week. not the big ones that last upwards of an hour, but the constant mini ones. she even peed herself 5 times today! she is beyond frustrated, i am beyond frustrated & i think we are at this hopeless point b/c no one will freakin call me back about getting speech therapy lined up (help me grow isn't so wonderful, after all! humph!) or about her hearing test results. i am ready to pack up the medical train & move to this type of 'homeopathic/wholistic md' version of a doctor that i have read about in some magazine in the past 2 years. someone who will take the freakin time to call us back, to be concerned with her whole situation, not just their little part in the equation. *SIGH*

in better news, i think i can say with confidence that life has gotten a bit easier lately (yes! even with amelia teething her top front teeth for the past 5 weeks. grrrrrrrrrrr.) i have accepted that addy doesn't nap anymore & if she happens to fall asleep on the couch or in her room (i still put her in her bedroom for 'quiet time') it's a plus & our night just got a bit easier. amelia is doing the two naps a day & is just a hoot to watch crawl around & explore. she has such interest in everything. it makes me smile to see her find a strewn lego & how excited this discovery makes her. & she's giving hugs, i swear it! this starts the age that i really enjoy...the exploring! i don't mind babyproofing & finding toppled everything (b/c really, if i've left it out, it's more my fault, eh?). her enthusiasm about everyday items is very contagious. just today she studied the intricacies of a toy-fairy wand for hours. it went with her wherever she went via mouth or her hand (or addy). only once did she poke herself in the eye with the end! so yea, i am loving that she's crawling & i can't wait for her to walk, even more fun in my opinion.

i've decided that the only other thing, besides being pregnant, that makes me never want to have a baby again: the age of 2. i can only go through this one more time. if we do adopt a kid in a few years, he has to be over the age of 3! that's my only stipulation, lol. maybe age 2 would be easier if adeline could express herself better. for sure we have had a rough go of it b/c of this language stuff, but i know all 2 year olds are a bit prickly around the edges. don't get me wrong, adeline amazes me daily with her kindness & soft heart & how she can crack jokes without even talking is beyond me, but she is a tiny comedian. when i wake up & hear her in the morning, i love it, even as she's throwing my glasses in my face, smudging them. or when she rolls around in our bed so much that she loses her place & rolls right off (which is quite the distance now with the new bed frame). or when she tells us-seriously-1 million times "addy a-boo-boo" in that poor me voice (i told her today that even the pope himself in rome knows she has this boo-boo & it will be okay now & she just looked at me with a very quizzical look & walked away. it worked!)

i don't know what i'm trying to say here. i do know i'm still tired half of the day, these girls wear me out! but i'm realizing how dirty my house is & doing better at finding little snippets of time to clean little by little every day. that is a huge development! i'm also making more meals from scratch, which is also a sign of the times (life is getting a bit easier again).

just the two of us

strawberrys delight& what is that picture of these delightful strawberries about? well, those are our first ripe berries of the year!

that would be amelia & me, the mama. we stayed at home while daddy & adeline go off to a bbq party. *sigh* the joys of being ill. this cold has really kicked the bottoms off amelia & i. i was hoping yesterday was my worst day of the illness, but as i woke up this morning i knew that was wrong. maybe today is the worse (or would it be "worst"??) day? yes, carol, as you said in your email, having a cold when it's not cold outside is just wrong! maybe b/c in the winter, when sick, you don't feel so shabby staying inside in a near comatose position all day? but during the warmer months, particularly a spring holiday weekend...being sick just plain sucks.

anyway, blah blah blah sickness.

so wes & adeline left around 3, leaving me with the millie monster (who is the cutest monster ever). after her nap, we played peek a boo with laundry (yes, why am i doing laundry when sick AND holiday?!), read books...then i would sort of zone out on cold medicine & find amelia crawling on me frantically trying to get my attention. it was fun to just hang with the wee one, but i do wish we could've also gone to the bbq! i was looking forward to this for the past few days, hoping my cold would go away by now. i just feel so bad taking sick kids somewhere, ya know? well, apparently adeline had a wonderful time playing with the bunch of boys & another wee but tough toddling girl. (why is it that nearly all our idaho friends are having girls & nearly all the ohio friends have boys?!).

amelia is finally able to read books without older sister disruption & book swiping.

& yesterday we ventured to cinnamon lake (ohio) for my twin niece's birthdays! they're two, which is baffling to think about. i think i finally rid my brain of connecting their names with the vision of them as ohsotiny babies & now i have to add to their brainfile (a term i am now saying is a real word) that they are two!

so this is leila (my sister in law) & her grandma behind her, then chloe & zoe while we are singing happy birthday (which they were so happy to be sung to. heart melting moment, folks).addy running with a stick. brilliant. (where are her parents? lol)

chloe & zoe playing in/around/near my brother's new compost bins/piles. they are mighty spiffy & put ours to shame, sadly.

last week i finished "the book of ruth" (not the one from the bible) by jane hamilton. & i can't get it out of my mind. i have a very hard time watching violence on tv (law & order/ncis/heros/etc can give me nightmares & sad awake thoughts for days). anyway, i bought this book years ago at the vineyard bookstore, thinking it was a devotional or something of that sort. not so! & before i read it now i didn't really know what it was about...until the end. darn it! hate it when that happens. i sorta thought it was similar to "zippy" & "she got up off the couch" by haven kimmel (which are two books i highly recommend, btw, as is her "the solace of leaving early" novel). anyway, this book of ruth ends with a brutal murder (of the mother of ruth) & the wife/mother being beaten nearly to death while pregnant by her mentally unstable husband. (sorry, if i just ruined this book if anyone was going to read it. i do recommend it, if you can handle the violent end; this author has a way of writing in a midwestern dialogue, which made me laugh).

some may know, some may not know, but i was in an abusive relationship in high school (for 3 years! egads) & it just really pains me to even read a fictional account of abuse. but it has made me pull closer to god & wes & hold my girls a bit tighter .... knowing what i know, hopefully i can help them not get into the same situation i was in. but it's not really my choice, it's theirs, which is very hard to let go of. anyway, these are the thoughts that are plaguing the sickly mama right now.

& now, to bed!

stories from the 'hood

in response to judy's blog post ( http://judycrawford.blogspot.com/2009/05/bikeseat-and-bambinos.html ) requesting a blog picture dialogue of gardens, i have gobs of garden pictures to share. i am really into getting a blog 'dialogue' going, so even if you don't know judy, go ahead & do it! i hope lots of folks do this...i am curious about gardens, i guess. & i really enjoy gardening & looking at the flowers, blooms, veggies, & wondering when i can dead head the dying blooms. maybe i even enjoy working in the gardens more than looking at them? i do know that when i get to walk outside, pick something from the herb or veggie gardens & then take it inside to eat...i feel very satisfied with our work & also the food.
the one problem i have with gardening is that i can't remember names of plants very well. or not at all? i have some stored in my mind, but most of those in my flower beds, well i have no clue half the time. even the veggies...i can tell you what it is, but not what breed or however you would say it.

so this first one is of a flower...but what is it? anyone know?! it sprang up this spring.

corral bells, love 'em.

greens in the odd shaped bed.
mint in the triangular bed.
lilies, irises & lavender in the side patio bed.

this is a repeating bed of corral bells, brown-eyed susans, forget-me-nots, phlox, & some ground cover that i really don't know the name of (most of these are from my mother in law...thanks, sue!)

our main veggie garden. tomatoes, 3 types of onions, peppers & marigolds to keep some pesty animals out (worked so far in this bed). past the veggies would be my lilac tree/bush that hardly blooms anything...grrr. & more iris/lilies.

strawberries!

azalea, random odd stuff (garlic chives? wild flowers?) a few rose bushes, hop hut with 6 hop varieties.

asparagus! we planted 15 crowns & so far 17 shoots have come up! yum yum.

my 3 tiered herb garden filled with the basics: lemon verbena, thyme, parsley, catnip, bee/lemon balm, chamomile (mine hasn't taken over at all like judy's...), 3 types of basil, cumin, chives, garlic, egyptian walking onions). i think that's it...

side of the house 3 tier garden with vine veggie plants. too many to tell! this is the garden that the varmint ate most of the starts. wes replanted with seeds...but he's still sad. *frown*

side of the front flower bed with lamb's ear & hostas, & an assortment of smaller things. also in there is the bird bath i bought wes last year. the lovebirds, of course, represent wes & i! of course!

the work-in-progress-flower bed. *sigh* this is in the very front of our yard & it smacks up to our neighbor's BEAUTIFUL garden. *bigger sigh*

hostas & sweet woodruff.

allysum, shasta daisies, rhododendron, grasses, etc.

in case you haven't noticed, we are doing an all white & green front yard...it is much more difficult than anticipated, but when we do get it filled in, i'm envisioning stylin' front yard gardens!

clematis! this is one of my 10 favorite plants. i love it!

the front with clematis, white violets, grasses, a grape tomato plant in a pot, mums, hollyhocks, roses, & some other things my mom just recently gave me (all with white or green blooms). & there's a few plants in there that i don't know the names of. yeppers.

& that is the gerbickian gardens. i hope you enjoyed your tour.

******

so if you read judy's comment from yesterday's post about addy's toilet issue yesterday...i totally forgot! here it is: adeline, amelia, & i were in the family bathroom at the polaris mall, which is great b/c it's just one big bathroom with a wee toilet, adult toilet, wee sink, adult sink, & then a very large changing table area. so adeline had just peed in her toilet & i in mine & poor little amelia was crawling on the bathroom floor b/c remember i had forgotten the stroller--wait, that was the first time we went to this bathroom. this time amelia was still in the stroller. still, the had crawled around that nasty bathroom floor...what was i to do? ICK! (what they are missing in this family bathroom is the child restraint seat. ah-ha!). anyway, i was washing my hands & changing amelia's diaper & pants b/c somehow she was totally soaked (okay, not somehow...she had peed so much her diaper was leaking, yea, bad mom alert one more time, lol). anyway, i look over just as addy was leaning into the adult toilet seat, her hair falling into the water. i screeched for her to STOP! & she just kept going, peering into the toilet bowl b/c it kept flushing b/c it was the automatic flusher kind. anyway, she basically gave herself a swirly in the toilet water. really gross, eh? & come to think of it, since i totally forgot about it, she didn't get her hair washed last night & continued sucking on her hair (her new habit, hair sucking/chewing) yesterday & today. yuck. & we wonder why our girls keep getting sick? lol!

also today, amelia crawled from our living room, through the hallway, into the dining room, & went to her favorite spot: in front of the sliding glass door where she proceeded to bang bang bang on it until i noticed that she *apparently* wanted to go outside. it just shocks me how well she's crawling right now. & her top left tooth is in...yea! now one more to go & hopefully we will have some time off before the next set start. can you say s-l-e-e-p is needed here?

ASPARAGUS

i am not a veggie eating person, not so much. actually, i'm not really into red meat & i hate fish & we eat chicken only a few times a week. i guess this makes me a carbo-holic? i like apples, also. & peaches. ANY-WAY! ((how did i get on the tangent? (btw: i recently made a little pact to myself to not delete large sections of posts that i write...i would have deleted something like that ramble prior to this personal pact, but i just want to see how it goes first...sorry blog stalkers, as judy crawford calls blog readers). ))anyway, i don't like most vegetables--BLECH!-- except asparagus (& several others, but i will let my ramblings stop now). so i want to grow it b/c it's so darn expensive most of the time.

i have been trying to buy asparagus roots for 3 YEARS! seriously. i am always too late when we get to the garden nursery...i frantically search around for the roots, plants, then seeds. then i ask 'where are your asparagus?' & they say "we just sold out yesterday" & then i cry. so this year i took matters into my own hands & didn't rely on a garden nursery to supply my needs. i ordered 25 roots from burpee (25 was the lowest amount...yes, if they take we are going to have gobs of asparagus! yum yum yum).

today they arrived! oh joyous! what? is it christmas again already? that's what it feels like, anyway. i was in the backyard playing with ms amelia who was refusing to take a nap (*frown*) & heard the ups truck stop in front of our house...i ran to the front--yes, leaving amelia on a blanket in the backyard where she is vulnerable to all the elements (read: griswold turds) & raced to pick up the box. beautiful! we plan on planting them saturday morning. my mom & dad also bought a bunch of asp. roots, so i think we have begun an unspoken competition. HA HA HA...i have the engineer nut on my side!

in more disgusting news: wes just discovered that he is GROWING GRASS IN HIS CAR. to explain...he drives my car from high school, a '95 geo prizm manual. it's pushing 200K!! anyway, this car has been through many many frightful things which i won't divulge right now. but apparently it has a window or roof leak lately which totally makes it reek in the car (poor millie had to ride in it last week). the window MUST be down when riding in this stink-bomb, lest you inhale toxic fumes. so awhile ago wes brought grass seed for the lawn & it spilled a bit on the passenger side floor....the rest is history! i can verify that yes, indeed, there are grass sprouts about 2 inches high growing from the car floor. seriously! we like the idea of being 'green' but...i think he is taking this too far, lol!

yard work

today is THE DAY. we are beginning to unload the massive amounts of soil, rock, humus/poo, & mulch. (well, the mulch will be a bit later.) already today we have moved 18 50-pound bags of small river rock under the hop hut & then another 5 around the grapes/berries... & then we moved a dozen or so bags of soil & 4 bags of poo. wes has built one new raised bed & is now planting two more hop mounds under his beloved hop hut. & it's not even noon yet! gee, think what we could get done if we weren't pushing addy in the swing half the time, lol.

btw: his hops from last year are going crazy already & two sets are nearly a foot tall! can you say B-E-E-R. lol.

we have two more raised beds to build & then more soil for those beds...& then plant some spring veggies & lettuces. then fill in another bed for asparagus with soil & compost & then wait until my asparagus roots get here in a few weeks. i'm a bit nervous about the asparagus b/c it's a lot of work the first year (buying roots already established takes a year of waiting away). for those who don't know, it takes 3 years from seed to the plate & in between then will be months of trimming the wee asparagus plants. so i ordered roots ... if all goes well, we may have some edible asparagus next spring! i think.

did i mention that the soil is nothing but MUD (as is most of our back yard)? we all have two sets of clothing today: outdoor & indoor; just strip down as you enter the house. oh yea, & dog crap piles somehow look very similar to mud clumps today...so we have that all over our shoes as well.

we will post some pics at the end of the day. & i see the first lily of the valley bloom peeping through.

all of this will help with our goal to lower our grocery bill this summer in addition to cutting our electricity use by 40% using less a/c & a clothesline instead of the dryer. there's this awesome retractable clothesline out there. i want it! but it's a bit over $200! egads. does less dryer use allow for an expensive clothes line? & using less a/c shouldn't be very difficult as last summer i was in my 3rd trimester & would start sweating & overheating in 72 degree heat. i insisted our house was nearly as cold as a fridge...normally i don't really like a/c because i'm cold constantly, even in the summer. so we shall see if we meet our goals:

1. cutting electricity use by 40% for the summer months (compared to last summer).
2. lowering grocery bill & eating more food out of the garden & having more variety to choose from (we are planting peas & beans this year & our strawberries should be edible this year).
3. have the ability to move tomorrow after hauling all this rock & soil & boards around...i think this may be the most difficult of all!

did i mention every time we made a trip to get more bags you have to add 30 pounds to account for adeline sitting in the wagon. yea, it's heavy. but i only tipped her once so far!